3 things we learned in the Miami Dolphins "steady as she goes" win over the Patriots

Mike McDaniel will put the ball in freezer if he has to in order to secure a Miami Dolphins victory.

Though the Dolphins didn't run the ball as prolific as we saw weeks ago, Mike McDaniel along with the precision short passing game will take the air out of the ball and drain the clock.

In that 3rd quarter, you can see that Tua wasn't snapping the ball until two seconds left in the play clock. Then they would run the ball or throw a real safe, near 100% completion for only a few yards to keep the clock moving. The Dolphins had the ball for 11 minutes longer than New England.

I don't know if McDaniel just had a feeling in him that even though his team was playing better and are better, he didn't want to give them more lives to pull off something stupid that hurt his team. I must say, I had a strange feeling in me entering the second half that this was just going to be a game where the Patriots just sort of hang around enough to make it interesting in the 4th. The Pats had it to 24-17 but then McDaniel in the 4th quarter did what he did in the 3rd quarter and that was not panic and waste the clock.

Tua eventually hit Jaylen Waddle for the game-ending TD and it was all good. But I think it's a good thing that the Dolphins have the club in the bag that is to kill the clock and make the other teams have to be even more efficient on offense. That bodes well for his defense which is getting better and healthier.

Big week this week as the Dolphins head to Germany to play the Chiefs. We know what the talk will be all week about how Miami needs to beat a legit team and how you don't want to play the Chiefs after a loss. Fortunately and smartly, McDaniel is taking the team to Germany today. Love that. Go and have some bratwurst, have a tasty Marzen, and get acclimated to Germany. Let's hope even more of the cavalry are able to return. Enjoy your victory Monday.

Follow me @2ndSatSports